Talk Commanders

One win from the Super Bowl. The point-spread from Vegas had the Washington Commanders as the deepest underdog in the Division Round of games at +9½ points. There was 82 percent of the betting straight-up on the Lions. That means that 18 percent got paid 4:1 on this Commanders win. This wasn’t a walk-off win — rather this was a stomp-off win. The 45-31 domination over the №1 seeded Detroit Lions propelled Washington to the NFC Championship game next Sunday against either Los Angeles or Philadelphia. This is the furthest Washington has climbed in a postseason since their Super Bowl season of 1991/1992.

Even the most ardent supporter of the Burgundy and Gold did not have this playoff run on the calendar before the season. Washington has continually defied gravity en route to this game. Five times in a row this team has won the game on the last play from scrimmage. Five. And, these weren’t meaningless games against scrub teams. (Ok, Dallas qualifies at the moment as a scrub team. Yes, that was gratuitous…but, it felt good to see it in print.) It has been a wonderful ride. Now things get much, much harder. Tampa Bay is a fine football team. Detroit is an excellent one.

Washington’s star quarterback was born a week before Christmas on December 18, 2000. Jayden Daniels had celebrated his 5^th birthday just 20 days before the Washington Redskins won their last playoff game on January 7, 2006 against these same Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That was 6,945 days between playoff wins. The Washington Nationals had just completed their inaugural season. George W. Bush was the President of the United States. And Mark Brunell was the aging 36 year old quarterback for Washington in that playoff game.

Some four and a half months ago Dan Quinn brought his new team to Tampa Bay for their first foray into real football. “New” was the operative word. The coaching staff had been “Oil Changed.” The Quarterback was starting his first game that would count. And, the roster had been essentially “Zero Staffed.” Only the players with longer and more expensive contracts were safe from the scythe that new General Manager Adam Peters wielded. Adding to the mix the opponent had won their Division three times in a row. Their coach was old friend Todd Bowles. He is considered a master at disguising Defenses. Surely the new QB would get schooled as the new WFT got trounced into disorganization. Tampa won handily. But, the game left an impression on Bowles.

“Stand up. Get your air. Use your God-given abilities. Go win us the game.” Those sound like words from a football coach. But, that was the coaching coming from veteran backup QB Marcus Mariota to a gassed Jayden Daniels. One play later…Touchdown, Playoffs, and bedlam. If you wrote this for a play or movie it would be dismissed as predictable and corny. It was neither. It was just simply glorious.

A year ago, the Washington Commanders were finishing with four wins and securing the No. 2 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. There were plenty of people saying that Washington should pick Drake Maye if the Bears took DMV native Caleb Williams. Some said to just trade back and take J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, or Michael Penix. The only voice that mattered was Adam Peters, GM of the Commanders, when he chose the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Jayden Daniels. They were ridiculed for taking him to Top Golf as part of a pre-draft group outing, and they were ridiculed by others for picking him over the other quarterbacks.

That 20/20 hindsight is making Peters look smart as Daniels seems to be running away with the Rookie of the Year award. Nobody imagined, except Daniels, that on December 29, the Washington Commanders would have 11-wins and a playoff berth with the most wins in this franchise since the 1991 Super Bowl season. Led by Daniels, the Commanders beat the Falcons and Penix on Sunday Night Football to clinch a Wild Card spot, with one regular season game to be played. And forget the fools who claimed that Daniels “stole” the Heisman from Penix.

Whatever reservations the fanbase may have had about Jaden Daniels last week’s game should have erased them. His touchdown pass to Jamison Crowder in the waning seconds was simply a masterpiece. There have been no shortage of analysts breaking down the play. Basically Daniels read the inside Linebacker’s approach to Crowder. Recognizing a zone type pivot instead of chest-to-chest pivot Daniels cut the ball loose in a millisecond. Had the Linebacker gone to a man pivot then the other receiver crossing towards the middle would have been open. Daniels’ reading speed on that play was other-worldly. As teammate Tress Way said of Daniels, “If he’s on the field you got a chance.” And, that about sums it up.

Last week a one-point win resulted in a very grumpy “Victory Monday.” Would any WFT fan be similarly fussy with a one-point win this week? Unfortunately, some would…but, not too many. This fan base has been marinated in toxicity for long enough that fair winds and following seas are considered a source of annoyance. Such grouchiness doesn’t simply melt away. It has to be slowly peeled back layer-by-layer until the core of the onion is in plain view. This takes more time than a single season affords. A win this week would surely loosen another layer. At least one would hope so. But, there are no guarantees.